TiccTock
by TeamAlphaQ
Summary: When Clockwork starts dating someone in the human world, Ticci Toby is worried Slender will actually kill her for this, and it doesn't help that his own personal feelings keep getting in the way. Ticci Toby x Clockwork. Alternating perspective by chapter. Rated K for language.
1. Chapter 1

A dark hall stretches ahead with no light but a dim red glow. It's peaceful, in a creepy sort of way. A soft humming is audible from the end of the hallway. A head of brown curls is moving down the hall, twittering a soft tune as the pink folds of her dress whisper _hush hush_ to her rhythmic steps.

Suddenly the little girl in the pink dress spins on her heels, as if she can feel someone's eyes on the back of her neck. A speck of blood flies from her forehead; but she catches it on the tip of her finger and then promptly wipes it off on the previously stained and faded dress she wears.

"Oh hello there!" she says brightly, waving at you. (Even though you aren't technically there.) "I didn't notice you." she explains as she walks back down the pleasantly gloomy hallway with a fresh bounce in her step.

 **Of course you should be curious. After all, the title did promise Ticciwork (Clockwork and Ticci Toby) and so far all we have is a very self aware eight year old. Just hang with me here.**

Sally turns back around sharply and shoots us (mostly me) a death glare with those bright green eyes of hers that can see through our nonexistence. "Don't think I can't hear you, Narrator. For your information, I'm getting to all that stuff." her glare switches back to innocent in a beat. "You should thank me for being the only one who reads the script."

 **Well that much is true. You'd be surprised how much the characters original script and what they actually say differs. Take my other story, for example. It ha-**

"Gosh Narrator, all that self promotion is killing Charlie's soul." Sally hugs her bear protectively. "Just for that, I'm not going to follow the script if I don't feel like it!" She halts at the foot of the stairs just to make a point. "The script says 'go upstairs' but I'm not going to." Her defiance is adorable.

She flounces outside into the nighttime air. It's always like this. The murky sky and cold clammy breeze is only welcoming to those who are used to it. Sally slides down the short creaky stair rail. She is never allowed to do that inside, so this has become her solitary act of defiance towards the rules.

Sally crosses her arms over her chest in a sulk. "I only crashed into Ben once and I was sorry."

 **I never accused you Sally, I was merely narrating.**

"Fine." she says, then grins widely. "I think I'll tell them why I'm here now!" She sits down on the rocky ground and gestures for you to sit next to her. (Of course I should remind you that you can't.)

"You are such a downer, Narrator. You know what, I'm just going to call you Tor." Sally winks at you then continues. "I am here to keep us all grounded in reality. It's important not to get lost in a story because if you do you will be sad when the real world tears you away from your fandom!" She sounds proud for remembering her lines so perfectly. "Ticci and Clock aren't actually together yet, so I'm not supposed to know what happens, but I read ahead."

 **What a** _ **huge**_ **accomplishment Sally! Would you like a medal, your name in the paper, or a blimp with your face on it?**

Sally stares at me. "You are so condescending at times, Tor. I know that it's all going to turn out just wonderful." She beams at you. "As long as everything goes according to script, we'll be fine."

A shadow falls over Sally and she looks up, temporarily distracted from her conversation with no one. "Sally, who are you talking to? I don't hear anyone else." EJ turns his head, trying to pick up on any signals that someone is actually there. (Remember, we aren't!)

Sally giggles. "Silly EJ, I was talking to the reader and Tor about the plot!" She shakes her head, still giggling.

"Plot? What plot?" EJ sounds extremely confuzzled. "Sally, I might be blind but seriously, there is no one here but you."

Sally shoots you a sly look then says, "I was talking to Charlie, not you!"

EJ makes an annoyed sound. "But you just said-"

Sally grins even wider. "Go inside EJ, you're confusing me."

He throws his hands into the air in defeat. "Oh _I'm_ confusing _you_ now! You know what, I don't want to know." He leaves in a huff of confusion at the mysterious ways of small children.

Sally breathes out slowly after EJ had finally shut the door. "You know, I think I should be more careful when other people are around."

 **You think?**

"Yes I do, Tor." Sal gets up and dusts herself off. "Well, it was nice talking to you! I do _hope_ you enjoy watching Ticci Toby and Clockwork make fools of themselves. Bye."

 **Well I guess that means I have to scram. You know, scripts to write that are never followed and all dat jazz.**

 **Bye!**

 **A/N: And cut! that concludes the first chapter/prologue of what is promising to be a wild ride. ;) I certainly have some things in store for Toby and Clocky….**

 **If you have any ideas for a fanfic you want to see just PM me or leave a comment! I'm open to anything! Heck, I will even do an OC if that's what you want! Until next time. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I had a wonderful idea for this so here it goes!**

 **Sally: Oh Tor, how could you do this to them! The story just started and already you're going to make them hate you!**

 **Q: Relax Sally, this part is in the summary! ;) Enjoy!**

Breeze playfully ruffles my hair as I stretch out on the blanket he brought with him. The sunset has the sky lit up in a dazzling array of pinks and golds that fade away into rich tones of deep blues and blacks. Stars are making their glitter-like appearance across the velvet of night.

A soft murmur of, "It's beautiful." escapes my lips.

He smiles at me warmly past his long, bleached hair; I feel like the spirit of summer just touched my face. "Not nearly as beautiful as you, love."

Despite the compliment, I subconsciously touch the bandage I have covering my clock-eye. Beautiful? Not me, that's for sure. Beautiful girls have tans and dark flowing hair. Beautiful girls don't have a smile stitched into their face. Beautiful girls didn't have one eye that's been forever changed to acid green, (thanks to a medical mistake) and a clock replacing the other. My clock and smile are beautiful to _me_ , but to others my features only serve to scare the living daylights out of them. I have my clock hidden tonight to prevent any awkward questions.

He reaches a hand forward and pulls my fingers from the bandage. "Even your clock is beautiful." He gently touches the stitches of my grin. "I especially love your smile. You're perfect, Natalie."

A shiver runs down my spine at the sound of my real name. "I love you, Eric." In that potent moment, he leans forward and kisses me.

Then my eyes open and I'm back in my room. I stretch lazily as I sit up and muse over the memory that had been conjured up once again in my dream.

Eric.

My boyfriend. My _human_ boyfriend.

Even after a month the words sound weird. Not that I ever really say them much around the mansion, because technically I can be killed for not murdering a human who is aware of my actual existence. Cut out of the world forever for something that small.

Slenderman has never really had a middle ground when it comes to punishment.

I slowly get out of bed and begin struggling into my usual clothes that consist of a tank top, dark hoodie, and black skinny jeans. I stagger into the bathroom and try to run a brush through my hair. I groan in frustration as the brush ends up stuck in my tangled curls.

Thinking back to last night, I sigh happily. Then a sour look crosses my face at the one niggling little issue I haven't yet resolved.

I still need to tell Toby.

He's my best friend here. I've never kept anything from him before and I didn't want this to stay hidden. Toby was nothing short of understanding.

I had promised myself I would do it after dating Eric half a week, then after a week, after my third date, after my tenth, but I had never been able to bring a conversation around to somewhere I can comfortably bring it up. Today, however, I'm going to tell Ticci Toby.

A shifting stray tap from outside my door alerts me to Ticci's presence at once. I smile devilishly. _He think's he's sneaky, but he isn't_.

I cross the room softly and wait just beside the door. A quiet crack comes from the other side of the door as Toby pops one of his knuckles.

Suddenly, without warning, I fling the door wide and, without meaning to, crash into him. He catches me deftly, sets me on my feet, then steps back with a bemused chuckle.

"Good morning, Clocky." Toby has his goggles and scarf on. I've only seen him without his goggles twice; his scarf only at meals. Brown hair falls in his face, obscuring his forehead from view. He is wearing his typical striped hoodie and jeans. The twin hatchets that hang at his sides complete his image perfectly. "That was certainly an interesting greeting."

"Mmhm, it's too early for smart-assery." I say through sleepy eyes. My internal alert system hits me over the head with a mental sledgehammer and the fog instantly clears. "Um, Toby-"

"Let's walk and talk because my waffles are getting cold." I follow the wake of his easy cool in silence for a few seconds before he says, "You were going to say something important?"

I take a deep breath as I formulate what I want to say. I don't want to come off too giddy but I also don't want to sound too funeralish. "Toby, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for a month now." I close my eyes tightly for a second before letting the cat out of the bag. "I'm dating."

I expect him to ask 'who', I expect another smart ass comment. What I don't expect is him freezing and twitching more violently than usual.

"I'm dating a human." I whisper.

Toby spins and grabs my arms, staring at me. His fingers tighten and loosen spasmodically like he can't decide whether to bring me closer or push me away. I can't see his eyes but I can feel them boring a nice, neat hole into my skull. "Clock-"

"I've been dating him for a month and I really love him and I needed to tell someone and you're the only person I can trust." It all rushes out in one big mess. I look into Toby's eyes and give a small grin, begging him silently to understand.

"Clock, you'll have to kill him." Ticci Toby's voice sounds deadly.

I yank my arms free from his grasp at last and glare at him. "No way in hell. Toby, I haven't been happy like this in… Forever!"

Toby twitches violently again. "A m-month Clock? You've been breaking the oldest rule in the book for a month?" I can't understand his sudden anger. We've always broken all sorts of rules together and he doesn't mind. Why is he getting upset when I most need him to forget the rules? "Who's the guy? What's his name? We have to dispose of him before S-Slender-"

"Toby, I'm not going to let Slender find out." I put a hand on his shoulder in reassurance, calmly stifling my spark of rage. _Kill him? Hell no!_ "Calm down."

He cracks his neck and throws my arm off his shoulder. "No, I will not calm down! You are going to be _k-killed_! Do you honestly expect m-me to just stand by and let that happen?" His tics are getting worse by the second. Already the stammer he picks up when he's nervous or angry is heavy on his words.

I set my mouth in a stubborn line and cross my arms. "I thought you of all people would understand. I'm happy Toby! Is that so wrong?"

Ticci Toby shakes his head in anger. "I can understand a l-lot but this is t-too much." He pushes past me and storms down the stairs.

I let out a breath. _Well that could've gone a whole lot better._ I puzzle over his ire as I make my way to the kitchen. He's never flown off the hook at me like that before. I enter the kitchen yawning despite the fight. I don't want the other pastas to worry.

"Sup." I mutter to Jane as I sit down.

"Hey!" Jane grins then gestured across the table. "What happened to Toby? He said he was going to find you." She gives me an evil wink. "Did you kill him?"

I look over at Toby's place. A large stack of uneaten waffles sits there, dispersing gloom into the air in an uneven blanket. "I thought he came down here." I admit, furrowing my brow.

"Well Tootsie, looks like ya guessed wrong!" Laughing Jack says from across the table with a laugh.

"Shut up, clown face." I grumble under my breath. "We already have Ben being a smartass, don't you start too."

Ben looks up at me and glares. "Well gee Clockwork, that's nice. What's got you _wound up_ so tight?"

I brush away the pun. "None of your damn business, elf." God I'm mad. Why is Toby doing this to me?

"Clockwork, please refrain from any more childish behavior." Slenderman admonishes sternly. "The same goes for you, Benjamin."

The table lapses into an uncomfortable silence.

At last, Masky breaks it. "Hey Slender, Hoodie and I are going to go look for Ticci Toby." He pushes his chair back and gets to his feet. Hoodie follows in complete silence.

I watch them go with no small amount of worry.

What if Toby actually kills Eric? I shudder at the thought, then rise from the table as well. "Bye guys! I've got people to kill!" I say with false cheer.

With that, I'm gone.

 **A/N: Today, I was sick! Everyone knows that sickness means writing because I don't have to get out of bed to do it. Sorry for the not-Ticciwork-at-all beginning. Trust me, it gets better!**

 **If there is anything you think needs changing, just PM me or leave a comment. If you like it, tell me! I need all the encouragement I can get!**

 **Laters,**

 **-Q**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Aw poor Toby. Oh well, I'm sure he'll survive for the rest of the story...**

 **Sally: Come on, don't do that to them! Think of the children!**

 **Q. I can't hear you, Sally. Anyways, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

I slammed my hand into the tree in frustration. How could I have let this happen? Clockwork and I had always been best friends, and now look where we are.

Letting myself go for a moment I spin screaming and throw one of my hatchets into a stump nearby.

Goddammit I love her. I've loved her for a long time. I sigh, sinking to the ground. _I guess I waited too long._ My tics still haven't subsided, but I don't care, I'm used to it. I crack the bones in my neck as I feel the bubbles of anger and desperation. Maybe even a little fear. If Slenderman finds out, Clockwork is dead for sure. He has always had a strict zero tolerance policy when it comes to relationships outside of the mansion.

I'm at a loss for what to do. On one hand, I don't really want to betray Clock's trust right now; but on the other hand, what else am I supposed to do? This _boyfriend_ has to die, or she would.

"Done with your temper tantrum, little baby?" I recognize Masky's voice at once, and see Hoodie with him. "Because if you want to continue, I would be happy to just stand by and laugh some more."

I growl deep in my throat. "Shut up Masky, I don't want to hear what you have to say right now."

"Oh come on Toby, you're being ridiculous! What's got you so worked up?" Hoodie says with a small scoff.

I look into their dark faces and I briefly wonder if I can trust them. I brush away my worries with the back of my hand. _Of course I can trust them. After all, they're my best friends._ "Clock's done something stupid again." I give another involuntary twitch and run my fingers through my hair.

"Well, she never was the most careful person ever." Masky remarks with a snort. "What'd she do this time?"

I stare off into the trees before answering. "She got herself a boyfriend." I think about what I just said and realize how jealous I sound. _Crap_.

Hoodie gives me a puzzled look. "What's so bad about that, Toby? If she's happy, why should you care?"

I groan louder and shoot to my feet. In two long strides, I cross the space between myself and where I threw my hatchet. "You don't u-understand, Hoodie. She's dating a human." My voice comes out strangled and choked.

They're both silent for a moment before Masky speaks up. "She shouldn't be doing that. You _do_ realize what's going to happen to her when Slenderman finds out? She'll be ripped limb from limb, if she's lucky." _Well isn't that just a cheery thought?_

"Then w-what do I do?" I ask in utter desperation. "If I don't do something-"

Hoodie places his hand on my shoulder gently. "Do you know who the guy is? Because if you do, you could always solve the problem without bringing Slenderman into this."

I grimace in distaste at the idea. While killing the guy might solve the problem, it definitely won't put me on Clocks good side. Then again, what other choices do I have? "I don't actually know who he is." I admit.

Hoodie shrugs. "That's the easy part. Clockwork will tell you exactly who he is." He takes out a knife and starts flipping it. I watch as it spin, end over end until Hoodie catches it deftly then throws it at Masky.

Masky's hand shoots out and snatches the knife mid rotation. "The hard part is convincing yourself that this is in Clockworks best interest." He throws the blade back at Hoodie.

Hoodie swiftly moves to the side and the blade sticks into the tree behind him. "Just think about it. In fact, _don't_ do anything until you've slept on it."

Masky gives me a hard look. "And make sure to apologize to her about how you acted. She seemed… upset." Looking up at the sky as if he had just been called by some person no one else could hear, Masky nods. Briefly looking at me again, Masky grabs Hoodie's knife and mutters, "Come on. Slender wants us inside."

I stay seated, not really sure if I should follow. I am a proxy as well after all. Shouldn't I have gotten the memo?

A sudden and blinding headache strikes me and I grasp my head trying to calm the pounding. God, how have Hoodie and Masky gotten use to these. _They're just giving you time alone. I never called anyone._ I nod, even though Slenderman isn't actually there.

"Yeah, I figured." I mutter aloud as the flash migraine fades.

"Toby?" I start at the sound of Clock's voice. "Hoodie said you were out here."

I get to my feet, somewhat unsteadily, and walk to her. "Yeah, I'm here."

Her eyes are filled with painful confusion. "Why were you so upset earlier?"

I bite my lip and a violent twitch causes my teeth to pierce it completely. As the metalic taste of blood fills my mouth, I say quietly. "I-I was just over reacting. Sorry Clockwork."

I watch her clock eye tick the seconds by almost mesmerized. _How fast it moves. Just shows how fleeting our time really is..._

Her soft words break my trance. "No, you have every reason to be concerned, I just really didn't want to hear that." She looks up at me with a brave set to her features. "I just wanted you to know I'm going out on a date with him tonight. Please don't worry about me."

I give a slightly bitter laugh. "To late for that Clock."

She laughs as well but her's is purer than mine. More beautiful and bird like. "I know. Happiness for me is rare so I'm taking it while I have it." She sounds so sincere as she says, "He doesn't mind my smile and eye, Toby. He thought they were beautiful. I've never met someone who isn't scared of me."

I sigh. "I'm not scared of you."

She grins. "There's a difference dummy. You're pretty damn scary yourself so you don't have a reason to be frightened of me." She gives me a quick hug. "See you later Toby. Wish me luck!"

I nod, even though every cell of my body wants to grab her and never let go. "Don't break his legs!" I call half heartedly.

Giggling softly, Clock disappears into the trees.

 **A/N: So….Short….**

 **Mundie: Just like you!**

 **Q: HOW DID YOU GET HERE? Anyway's school's being a complete bitch. I'm really trying but it's hard to get anything written.**

 **The 6th chapter of A Killer's Love is currently getting edited and betaed. I hope to get more of that done tonight….**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Time to wind down… and write stressful fanfiction!**

 **Naw, I'm just kidding, this is the best part of my dismal life.**

 **Short chapter cut me some slack; I'm still avoiding A killer's love.**

 **ENJOY.**

Sally sits at the kitchen table intently staring at the door. You would think that after Clockwork left everyone else would have fallen silent but that was not the case. In fact, the conversation is as lively as ever.

Just because a character leaves does not mean that everyone else is suddenly stuck in time. No, life moves on even without the protagonist.

A door slamming startled everyone from their conversations for a moment but seconds later they all went back to talking

Laughing Jack elbows Sally playfully and winks. "Hey sweets, what do you wanna bet that's our dear Ticci back from talking to Clocky?"

Sally smiles. "Yeah, they should both come in here and finish breakfast!"

Laughing Jack cackles and says, "Sorry gumdrop, I'm pretty sure it's just Toby."

Sally furrows her brow and mutters something about a script. Suddenly she jumps to her feet and hurries away from the table calling, "I'm going upstairs, bye!"

As she bursts into the hallway Sally runs right into Toby. With a childlike glare she asks, "What were you doing?"

Toby scratches the back of his head and mumbles, "Just talking to Clockwork." He turns back to the open door and says. "She just left."

"No, you were supposed to stop her!" Sally exclaims in a panic.

Toby grabs her arm in shock and looks at Sally in confusion. "What did Masky and Hoodie-"

Anticipating his question, Sally gives an exasperated sigh and pulls her arm from Toby's grip. "Nothing! I just know that you are acting like a typical boy lead by not doing something completely obvious!"

With that she storms off. After Ticci Toby is out of earshot she starts growling at us (me). "What were you thinking Tor? The plot chart was totally different!"

 **Sally, Sally, calm down. It's honestly not my fault!**

Sally snorts in disbelief. "Oh yeah, like I'm going to believe that, you write the story!"

 **In theory…**

"What's that supposed to mean?" The little girl explodes. "The plot said that Clockwork and Toby would both come inside and plot to kill Eric together."

 **It's true, that's what the plot chart said. I would know, I wrote it.**

While flouncing up the creaky staircase Sally continues to fume. "Then why did Clockwork leave? It wasn't supposed to happen like that!" She takes a sharp turn onto her landing and storms away without looking at us. Somehow her annoyance still managed to be absolutely adorable.

"I can hear you." Growls Sally as she opens her door and stalks inside.

 **Look Sally, I'm really sorry but Toby didn't do what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to force Clockwork around to his way of thinking but…**

"He didn't." At long last Sally admits defeat and collapses onto her bed. Her distress is evident in the way she closes her big green eyes, scrunches her brow and knuckles her forehead repeatedly. Finally she cracks an eyelid open and moans, "What are we going to do?"

 **You're not going to do anything Sally, I'm going to try to sort this out somehow.**

She sighs and, with a voice one uses to talk to idiots, says, "Tor, I am not some useless child. I might be able to help or something."

 **Well if you stick to the script then everything should be just-**

Sally shoots out of bed and shakes her finger at the nothing that is me, the narrator. "Don't you dare Tor, look where following the script got you this time?" Looking over to you she shoots you a pleading look. "Come on, I just wanna help!"

The door behind her rattles as someone bangs on it. "Sally, is someone else in there?" EJ's voice sound worried. With a guilty look at you, Sally turns to the door.

"Nope, just me." EJ opens the door and 'looks' around. Sally crosses her arms defensively and looks at us with a nervous expression. "Who're you looking for EJ?"

"The person you were yelling at." He mutters suspiciously. "Why have you been talking to nothing Sally? Are you okay?"

Sally shook her head as she says, "Yeah, I'm fine EJ. You can leave now, no one's gonna eat me or anything."

With a finally shake of his head, EJ left.

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Sally looks at you and says, "That was too close."

 **Well gee Sally, I thought you would never see that what you're doing is a bad idea.**

Sally huffs loudly and shakes her head. "Shut up Tor."

With that she climbs back into her bed and closes her eyes in a mid-morning nap.

 **A/N: Wow… so this chapter has been here for over a month at this point. I'm not really sure if anyone still cares about this story but here it is anyway. I haven't forgotten you guys I just have been busy with some other stories.**

 **Love ya!**


End file.
